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Bahrain arms smugglers remanded to police custody

Manama, February 7, 2014

Six men who allegedly smuggled large hauls of weapons into Bahrain were yesterday remanded in police custody for 30 days.

The Bahrainis reportedly travelled to Iraq last year to receive militia training in weapons with Shi'ite strongman Moqtada Al Sadr's Mahdi Army, according to case files.

They have been accused of conspiring with a foreign country, joining the movement of Al Sadr, recruiting others and being part of a terrorist cell, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

They have also been charged with receiving militia training in weapons and explosives.

One of the men, who was arrested on September 25 last year, was allegedly recruited through a middleman in Iraq.

"We went to Iraq and received militia training along with the army of Moqtada Al Sadr," said the 23-year-old in his statement to prosecutors.

"The Iraqis told us not to get involved with riots in Bahrain, so we will not be arrested over something small. They told us to prepare ourselves for when chaos happened and that is when we come into the picture," he stated.

"We went to Karbala and received training in AK47s, explosives and RPGs. We also received $400 each."

His co-defendant, an 18-year-old Bahraini, told prosecutors they used charity money donated by political societies in attacks against policemen.

"I took part in many riots since 2011 and we would collect money from the charity boxes during rallies provided by different societies," he said. "We then used this money that was given to support rallies in Bani Jamra to attack officers and kill them," he added..

"After I was arrested I led the police to the warehouses where we hid the explosives and weapons."

All six suspects appeared before a remand judge yesterday, who further remanded them in police custody for 30 days.-TradeArabia News Service